The Reluctant Bride (35 page)

“Is there?”

“Just the normal stuff anybody would find on a ranch.”

The sound of a rifle being fired exploded inside the house.

“One down” Russ said.

Minutes passed. Tanzy managed to hit the man hiding behind the ponderosa pine, but she was certain it was only a graze. He returned her fire, breaking the panes in the window. Tiny pieces of flying glass punctured her skin like so many pinpricks. Drops of blood oozed to the surface and quickly dried.

“One of them has disappeared,” Russ said. “Keep a look out on your side.”

“He’s not on my side,” Tanzy said.

Silence reigned for a few moments.

“I think he’s on the roof,” Russ said. “Maybe he’s hoping to force us outside. Come over here and cover me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to throw myself through the door and get a shot at him before he can take a shot at us. You’ve got to keep the guy in the trees ducking for cover so he won’t have time to get a clean shot at me. Think you can do that?”

“If he sticks his head out, he’ll lose it.”

Russ chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve got a little bit of mountain lioness in you.”

“I don’t like being shot at. It makes me real mad.” She took her position by the doorway. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

Tanzy aimed a series of rifle shots into the trees. Having exchanged his rifle for a gun, Russ dashed through the door, threw himself on the ground, rolled over, and fired rapidly in the direction of the roof. Tanzy heard a rifle fall, then the thud of a body. The man in the trees jumped from cover to take a shot at Russ, and she put a bullet through his hat. He jumped back under cover as Russ dived back through the doorway.

Two down,” he said. “Check the other window.”

“He’s leaving,” Tanzy said when she saw the man moving through the trees away from the corrals. “He’s trying to get away.”

“Maybe the boys will get here in time to catch him. Stay here. I’m going after the guy in the trees.”

Russ ran through the door and around the corner of the cabin.

Tanzy hurried to the doorway but couldn’t see Russ or the gunman. She turned back to the window, but the man at the corrals had disappeared. For one indecisive moment she stood still, but she couldn’t remain inside doing nothing while Russ faced two gunmen alone. She put extra shells in her rifle and went outside.

The eerie silence made it seem as if she’d imagined the gunfight. The body on the ground, however, was proof it was no illusion.

Where had Russ gone? She walked around the corner of the cabin toward the corrals but saw no one. She returned to the front. Still, no one. A faint sound attracted her attention and she rounded the far corner of the cabin. She thought she could make out Russ working his way through the trees in the direction of the path they’d taken several days earlier. The trees were thick along that side. She caught some slight movement out of the corner of her eye and turned in time to see a man raise his rifle and aim at Russ.

A fifth gunman! Acting so quickly she was unaware of the individual motions, Tanzy raised the rife to her shoulder and fired immediately. She didn’t kill the gunman, but she hit him in the shoulder, causing him to drop his rifle.

“Damned good shot,” Oren said as he galloped past Tanzy straight into the woods. Tanzy heard a gunshot behind the cabin. Before she could round the cabin to see what was happening, Tardy rode his horse into the yard at a gallop. He threw himself off, grabbed Tanzy, and started toward the cabin.

“Welt said he’d take every piece of skin off my hide if I didn’t make sure you stayed inside,” he said. Tanzy tried to resist, but Tardy was insistent. “I’m not taking any chances. Welt can be real mean when he’s crossed.”

“So can I,” Tanzy said, angry at being treated like a woman.

“Yeah, but you won’t hurt me. Welt will.”

“If anything happens to Russ, you’ll find out how wrong you are.”

Tardy pushed her inside and closed the door. “You love him?” Tardy asked, his thoughts momentarily deflected from the conflict outside.

“I like him enough not to want him shot.”

“Hot damn! I told Welt you were going to marry him.”

“I haven’t decided what I’m going to do,” Tanzy said, irritated that Tardy and Welt had been discussing her relationship with Russ. A gunshot recalled her attention to the attack. “Who’s guarding the pass?”

Tim. He can’t leave his position until someone comes to relieve him. He’s going to be mad as hell he missed the fun.”

Tanzy didn’t see anything fun about the situation. She just wanted to know Russ and the others were safe, but she couldn’t see through the door or the single window. When she had a house, she was going to have windows on all four sides. Tardy cracked the door and peered out.

“Can you see anything?” she asked.

“Naw. I expect they’ve got them tied up by now.”

She wished she had as much faith in Russ’s invincibility as Tardy, but she’d seen too many men die.

“Buck’s at the corrals. Now he’s riding off through the woods.”

“Probably following the man who was hiding there.”

Thoroughly disgusted with her inability to do anything useful, Tanzy put her rifle back on the rack. “Since everybody is determined I won’t be allowed to help, I guess I’ll clean up the glass.”

“You’d better clean up yourself first,” Tardy said. “Russ will have a heart attack if he sees you with blood all over your face.”

Tanzy had forgotten about the tiny glass fragments. A look in the mirror revealed a few spots of blood on her cheek and chin. More on her neck and arms. A quick swipe with a damp cloth was sufficient to remove them. The tiny pinpricks were too small to notice. Fortunately, none of the glass slivers were embedded in her skin.

“Here comes Oren with one,” Tardy called.

It was the man who’d tried to shoot Russ in the back. Tanzy was glad she’d shot him. She hoped he was in agony. A few minutes later Buck came back with the man who’d been hiding by the corrals.

“Welt’s gone to help Russ catch the other one,” Buck said.

It wasn’t long before Russ came back with the last gunman, who looked like he’d run into a whole family of angry grizzlies. Apparently Russ had found a way to work out some of his anger.

“Welt is bringing their horses,” he said. “I’ll take them into town. Tardy and Tanzy will come with me. The rest of you stay alert. This could be part of a plan to get us out of the valley so they can steal the herd.”

“It doesn’t look like the plan worked too well,” Oren said, “not with two of them dead, two of them shot, and one looking like he lost an argument with a cougar.”

Tanzy didn’t care about the gunmen or the cattle. She only cared that Russ was safe and unhurt. When he looked at her and smiled, her heart turned over. It was in that moment she knew for certain she loved him.

The procession attracted attention even before it reached town. Tanzy rode ahead in the wagon with the two dead men, their horses tied behind. Next came the other three gunmen on their horses, their hands tied behind them, their feet tied under their horses’ bellies. Russ and Tardy rode behind.

“What’d they do?” one man asked.

Tried to kill me,” Russ replied.

“One man against five? That don’t sound fair.”

“I don’t think they were looking to be fair.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know. Never seen them before.”

“Are they the rustlers?”

“They say they aren’t.”

“You can’t believe a thing they say,” one man said, “not when five of them gang up on one man.”

“What catamount got him?” another man asked, pointing to the gunman who had both eyes swollen shut.

“Russ got him,” Tardy said proudly. “Beat the snot out of him.”

“Watch your language in front of a lady,” Russsaid.

“Sorry,” Tardy said, apologizing to Tanzy. “I forgot.”

Tanzy suppressed a grin. Tardy was so full of himself he could hardly stand it. Russ had allowed him to wear a gun and carry a rifle. He was probably hoping one of the gunmen would try to escape so he could have a chance to use his weapon.

“Who are these men?” the sheriff asked Russ when they reached the jail. The news had already preceded them into town. The sheriff and two deputies were waiting for him.

“I have no idea,” Russ replied. “I’ve never seen them before.”

“Why were they trying to kill you?”

“They didn’t say, but they surrounded my cabin and started shooting at me.”

“I can’t take your word for this,” the sheriff said.

“Why not?” Tanzy demanded, stunned at the sheriff’s response.

“Everybody knows he’s a thief and a liar,” the sheriff said.

“Have you ever known him to lie?”

“When he was a kid—”

“All kids lie at one time or another. I’m sure you did, too.”

“He lied about the rustling.”

“Can you prove he stole any cattle?”

The sheriff started to speak, then changed his mind.

“You have no proof that he’s a thief, a liar, or a rustler. I was under the impression that an officer of the law was supposed to be above gossip and slander.”

“I require proof that these men attacked him like he said.”

“I saw them,” Tardy said. “So did Oren and Buck.”

“I’m not taking the word of some kid or any ex-cons,” the sheriff said.

“How about mine?” Tanzy asked “Or are you going to disqualify women as well?”

“I haven’t heard what you have to say,” the sheriff said, evading her question.

“I was in the cabin when they attacked. They tried to kill me as well as Russ. If you will look closely, you can see where pieces of flying glass punctured my skin in at least a dozen places. Now, unless you intend to call me a liar as well, you have all the proof you need to put these men in jail.”

“You can go back to the ranch with me tomorrow and match all the spent bullet cases with their guns,” Russ said. “If you or any of your deputies know how to track, you can follow the trail of their horses to see where and how they entered my valley. Or, if you want to save a lot of time, you can just ask them.”

“We was paid to go in there and shoot up the place,” one of the men volunteered. “We wasn’t going to kill anybody, just scare them good.”

“Is that why you shot at me through the window?” Tanzy asked. “Is that why one of the dead men tried to shoot us through the roof?”

“They were still shooting when I got there,” Tardy said. “Why would they sneak in if they weren’t up to no good? If they wanted to visit, all they had to do was come through the pass like anybody else.”

The sheriff might fear Stocker, but Tardy was the nephew of the town’s social arbiter and Tanzy was a woman. It was hard to discount what they said when their tale agreed in every detail with what Russ had said.

“I’ll have to check your evidence,” the sheriff said.

“Let me know when you’re ready. I’d better go with you. The boys are a little jumpy right now.”

“I’m the sheriff.”

“I expect they know that. They just want to be sure you’re on the side of the law.”

“And where else would I be?”

“That’s for you to decide,” Russ said. His voice was quiet, his speech slow and measured, but there was no question about the challenge in his eyes.

“We probably ought to see about a hotel room,” Tanzy said, anxious to keep Russ from getting into a fight with the sheriff. “I’m sure Tardy’s hungry.”

“Starved,” the boy said.

“You can put up in the hotel with us if you like,” Russ said to Tardy once they were outside on the boardwalk, “but I think you ought to see your aunt.”

“She’ll be after me to come back,” he protested.

“Maybe,” Tanzy said, “but she has taken care of you since your parents died. You owe her that much courtesy.”

“I don’t want to go back.”

“Then try to explain and give her a chance to understand. I’m sure she loves you. Your leaving must have hurt.”

Tardy looked like he wanted to argue, but he ducked his head and turned toward his home. Archie welcomed them into the Stocker Hotel with a covert smile.

“You’ll be wanting two rooms,” he said.

“As long as you’re sure Stocker won’t have me thrown out,” Russ said.

Archie’s smile vanished. “He’s coming into town for the meeting tonight.”

“What meeting?” Russ asked.

“The meeting to decide what to do about the rustling.”

“You mean the meeting to decide what to do about
me
rustling.”

“I can’t say who they suspect is behind it,” Archie said. “Do you plan to go and find out?”

Archie seemed to be trying to tell Russ something, but Tanzy couldn’t figure out what it might be.

“I think I will,” Russ said. “What time is it?”

“They’re meeting in Stocker’s saloon at seven-thirty.”